Open Access

For prestressing steel’s factory production control, approvals, and continuous surveillance in Germany, a susceptibility test against hydrogen-induced stress corrosion cracking is performed. The measured time to fracture results (in hours) must be reproducible and reliable in the test. ISO 15630-3 gives currently unpersuasive and diverging results using a free corrosion approach for hydrogen charging. A newly developed test method uses cathodic polarization for defined hydrogen charging instead of an uncontrolled and variable electron supply by metal dissolution during free corrosion. With this new test method, a reliable differentiation is possible between highly susceptible-known “old-type” quenched and tempered prestressing steel, i.e., Neptun, Hennigsdorfer, Sigma, and currently approved cold-drawn wires St 1470/1670 (CDS-1670) and St 1570/1770 (CDS-1770). The reproducibility of the new test method was evaluated in a round-robin test with eight attended testing institutes on a St 1470/1670 (CDS-1670) batch.

This presentation at CONSEC24 gives an overview of the new stress corrosion cracking test for prestressing steel wires using cathodic polarisation. Design of Experiments (DOE) studies on prestressing levels and cathodic current density on time to fracture will be presented, testing different prestressing steels. Finally, an experimental solution for testing strands is proposed.

The goal of the experiments is to demonstrate that systems like three-dimensional jackets possess redundancies that, despite the reduced fatigue life of individual components, enable reliable operation if an appropriate maintenance concept is in place. In practice, individual potentially faulty components in the structure have been handled conservatively so far. To move away from this approach, methods and strategies in the field of life cycle management that enable economically optimal and reliable operation must be transferred from scientific research to practice. Experiments are the preferred method to establish the proof of concept. To realistically simulate the operational lifetime of a jacket structure through an experiment, cyclic loads must be applied to the structure to replicate typical fatigue processes. To ensure that the test structure is not a "disposable product" and can undergo multiple test cycles, the experimental concept includes system-level and component-level tests. The latter are conducted on removable joints. These elements at the nodes of the structure have been manufactured in multiple variations, both to potentially contain mentioned flaws and to undergo more load cycles individually than the main structure. Once the removable joint is sufficiently pre-damaged and thus the reduced remaining fatigue life is established, the element is inserted into the overall structure. The defined maintenance strategy is then implemented on the entire system. This strategy consists of structural health monitoring (SHM), inspections, and repairs. At defined intervals, cyclic loading is interrupted to apply dynamic loads. Using the installed monitoring system and coupled operational modal analysis (OMA), the modal parameters of the structure are determined, which can help identify potential system damage. Optimal sensor placement (OSP) can be determined based on a maximum value of information (VoI) across the entire pre-posterior predicted service life. For detailed investigations at the hotspots, inspections are conducted using non-destructive methods, among others. Overall global and local information about the structure's condition is gathered these methods, which are then incorporated into models describing the structure through Bayesian updating. This allows for initial system identification based on different system responses and later updating of the predicted parameters of analytical and numerical models. Utilizing the updated models, decisions regarding maintenance actions, such as further inspections or repairs, are made, which are subject to uncertainties. The probabilistic models enable a reliability- and risk-based maintenance strategy, where, for example, maximum failure rates can act as triggers for maintenance actions. These decisions are relevant for the planned duration of the simulated operational lifetime, as well as for potential lifetime extensions, which are currently of significant importance in practice. Optimizing the maintenance strategy for the operational lifetime of the structures with these methods will lead to a higher utility of the offshore wind farm. The work associated with the test structure encompasses a variety of topics (including fatigue, damage detection and identification, reliability, Bayesian updating, system identification, SHM, maintenance planning, decisions under uncertainties), which are integrated through corresponding models and methods. All these models have been and are being applied in the numerical accompaniment of the experiments. By applying them to a structure that includes the relevant locations and aspects of real-world structures, both well-functioning and suboptimal parts of the established framework will be revealed.

Der Einsatz von hoch zugbeanspruchbarem und korrosionsbeständigem Carbongelege anstelle von herkömmlichem Spannstahl ermöglicht es Beton vorzuspannen und gleichzeitig die Betondeckung auf ein für den Verbund nötiges Minimum zu reduzieren. Das Carbongelege besteht aus Carbonfasern in einer Kunststoffmatrix. Mit dieser Bauweise können dünnwandige und damit ressourcenschonende Deckenelemente realisiert werden. Der Wechsel von massiven zu filigranen und vergleichsweise leichten Bauteilen führt jedoch aufgrund der geringeren Masse und der damit einhergehenden schnelleren Erwärmung zu einer Abnahme des Feuerwiderstands. Ferner führt die Erweichung der Matrix im Brandfall zu einer Abnahme der Verbundfestigkeit zwischen Carbongelege und Beton. Die Brennbarkeit des Carbongeleges sowie die Abplatzneigung des verwendeten Feinbetons stellen weitere Herausforderungen für den baulichen Brandschutz dar. Der Beitrag stellt Versuchsergebnisse zum Abplatz- und Hochtemperaturverhalten von Carbonbeton vor, die im Rahmen des Verbundvorhabens „Vorgespannte Carbonbetondecken mit reduzierten Querschnitten“ (CaPreFloor) erzielt wurden. Für die Untersuchung der Tragfähigkeit bei hohen Temperaturen wurden 4-Punkt-Biegeversuche an balkenförmigen Prüfkörpern (150 x 30 x 6 cm³) mit einlagiger Carbonbewehrung und instationärer Temperaturbeanspruchung durchgeführt. Neben dem Vorspanngrad des Carbongeleges wurde auch der Gelegetyp variiert. Im Bereich der konstanten Biegezugzone erfolgt die einseitige Erwärmung mittels elektrisch betriebener Heizmatten. Während der kontinuierlichen Erwärmung werden die Prüfkörper mit einer konstanten Kraft belastet, deren Betrag aus zuvor durchgeführten Biegeversuchen bei Raumtemperatur abgeleitet wurde. Die Abplatzversuche werden mit Einheits-Temperaturzeitkurve an rechteckigen (60 x 60 x 6 cm³) und kreisrunden (Ø 47 x 6 cm³), plattenförmigen Prüfkörpern am 1m³-Ofen der BAM durchgeführt. Die kreisrunden Prüfkörper sind zusätzlich mit einem Stahlring zur Behinderung der thermischen Dehnung des Betons versehen. Um den Einfluss des Geleges auf das Abplatzverhalten zu analysieren, werden sowohl Prüfkörper mit Carbongelege als auch unbewehrte Prüfkörper untersucht. Die daraus resultierenden Erkenntnisse fließen in die weitere Entwicklung der vorgespannten Carbonbetondeckenelemente ein. Anhand von realmaßstäblichen Brandversuchen wird der Feuerwiderstand dieser Bauteile im weiteren Projektverlauf bestimmt.

The use of biochar as a concrete constituent has been proposed to reduce the massive carbon footprint of concrete. Due to the low density and complex porosity of biochar, microstructural analysis of Portland cement-biochar composites is challenging. This causes challenges to the improvement of the micro-scale understanding of biochar composite behavior. This work advances the microstructural understanding of Portland cement composites with 0, 5, and 25 volume percent (vol%) of cement replaced with wood biochar by applying common characterization techniques of mercury intrusion porosimetry (MIP), gas sorption, scanning electron microscopy, and isothermal heat flow calorimetry (HFC) in conjunction with 1H nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) and micro-X-ray computed tomography (XCT) analysis techniques. The combination of these techniques allows a multi-scale investigation of the effect of biochar on the microstructure of cement paste. NMR and XCT techniques allow the observation and quantification of the pore space. HFC and MIP confirmed that biochar absorbs moisture and reduces the effective water-cement ratio. Gas sorption, MIP, and NMR shows that 5 vol% replacement does not significantly affect the gel and capillary pore structures. Results from XCT (supported by MIP and NMR) show that biochar can reduce the formation of larger pores. Importantly, XCT results suggest that biochar can act as a flaw in the microstructure which could explain reductions in the mechanical properties. Overall, the mechanical properties already analyzed in the literature are consistent with the microstructural changes observed, and these results highlight the need to carefully tailor the volume fraction of biochar to control its effect on the paste microstructure.